...we're already seeing the effects of climate change, including increases in some types of extreme weather and rising sea levels.

Political allies of the fossil fuel industry -- including Mr. Cuccinelli, whose top donors include coal producer Consol Energy and oil giant Koch Industries -- don't like our research. They'd rather use their power to attack well-established science than consider the possibility that burning massive amounts of coal and oil has negative environmental side effects....Cuccinelli's court filings, when they referred to climate science at all, were clearly based on Internet conspiracy theories and misinformation from fossil fuel industry front groups. Ph.D. candidates at the university thought the attorney general's treatment of scientific research was so laughable that they simply read his court filings out loud during a speaking engagement he had at the school. ......Sea-level rise also threatens [Virginia's] valuable beaches, where I've happily vacationed [via unnecessary planet-killing fossil-fueled transportation] along with millions of other families.

It's clear that human-induced climate change is a fact of life. People hit by Sandy, for example, are already facing difficult choices as they rebuild....But I do hope he and other climate change deniers begin to realize that climate change is already affecting our economy and our way of life.

If they're unable to do that, I hope voters will have the good sense to prevent them from taking office.